GRAHAM SAYS DELAY MOVE FOR CONTRA AID

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Graham, a staunch supporter of aid to the Contras, pledged Monday to oppose renewal of this military support if Nicaraguan officials begin implementing a comprehensive, regional peace plan by early November.

In a meeting with reporters to discuss his recent, six-day tour of Central America, Graham, D-Fla., also criticized Secretary of State George Shultz for announcing last week -- in the midst of the current peace efforts -- that the Reagan administration plans to ask Congress for $270 million more in Contra aid.

"Doing it (asking for more aid) at this time puts us in the position of being accused 60 days from now of having torpedoed the peace process," Graham warned.

"We should not allow our fingerprints to be placed on the failure of this peace accord," he added, referring to a regional peace plan signed by the heads of five Central American nations, including Nicaragua, on Aug. 17. That plan set a Nov. 7 deadline for actions by these five nations aimed at ensuring peace and broadening human rights and deomcracy in that region.

Graham's statements would appear to signal added trouble for President Reagan if he tries to win approval of additional Contra aid before the Nov. 7 deadline. The president cannot get his aid request through Congress without continued support from moderate Southern Democrats such as Graham.

Graham vowed to support a renewal of aid to the Contras in excess of the $100 million the United States spent this fiscal year should Nicaragua's "Marxist- Leninist" Sandinista government fail to take the steps called for in the peace plan by the Nov. 7 deadline.

But during the next seven weeks before the deadline, Graham said Reagan administration officials should be expressing public support for the peace plan instead of battling Congress for more aid to the Contras. He also called on the administration to publicly set "benchmarks" by which the Sandinista government will be judged on its progress toward implementing the plan.

These benchmarks would include granting amnesty to large numbers of political prisoners in Nicaraguan jails, lifting the current state of emergency that has led to suspension of human rights in that country, ending current restraints on the press and easing restictions on political parties, Graham said.